It didn’t take Donald Trump to teach us that we Americans are a tribal people. We gravitate toward those with whom we share the common bonds of geography, accent, trade, culture, history. Family is familiar.

First by birth and now by choice, I am both a Christian and a Cats fan, though I hesitate to identify as either since loudmouthed know-nothings in both clans are constantly damaging the brands of Christianity and Big Blue Nation. (I mean, as much as an undefeated, 5-0 brand can be damaged. Man, it is good to be good!)

Speaking of loudmouthed know-nothings, if Donald Trump’s presidency and his unlikely path to the nation’s highest office have taught us anything, it is not just that we are tribal people (we knew that). Rather, Trump’s unparalleled vileness, incuriosity, and general inanity reveal the shocking depth of the tribal loyalty from almost every conceivable faction of the modern Republican Party.

I know not everyone on the left is shocked at the extent to which friends, family members, co-workers and elected officials are content (and sometimes thrilled) to be affiliated with Trump’s obviously racist and white supremacist beliefs and policies.

But I — naive, I suppose — have to admit: I was and remain horrified to discover the willingness of people I had previously considered respectable to tolerate and even excuse government-sanctioned bigotry. I had no idea so many people would want to be in such a gross tribe. And how many people — week after week, outrage after new outrage — would be content to remain in such a gross tribe.

We are a tribal people. The voices of the "Never Trump" Republicans are remarkable not for what they say (which in less fraught times would read as milquetoast exhortations to respect processes and norms) but in how few voices there actually are. Meanwhile, the silence from our Republican neighbors is deafening. Even when they shake their heads and express “concerns,” they can’t bring themselves to leave the tribe. Inside, some of them might be ashamed of their tribe. But, what can they do? It’s their tribe. We are a tribal people.

Because of that tribalism, Trump’s easy nationalism and “America First” rhetoric has coalesced a powerful political force. Trump has shown tribalism to be an extremely effective motivator, one which can instill an unshakable loyalty, it seems.

For reasons beyond the scope of this column, I think Americans on the left are less susceptible to tribalism (nationalism) than our conservative counterparts. We are, as pundits are happy to remind Fox News viewers, a more cosmopolitan group. Cosmopolitan means “free from local, provincial or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments; at home all over the world.” This would seem to indicate less tribalistic thinking.

Nevertheless, I do believe there is a place for nationalistic framing of progressive policy goals. I am all for a nation-on-nation competition to see which nation can most quickly achieve a zero-percent poverty rate among its people.

We can be the tribe where everyone is assured they will have what they need to survive and thrive. Where the least number of people live in fear and anxiety of sexual assault. Where no one files a bankruptcy because of unexpected medical debt. Where a generation of kids doesn’t live anchored to unconscionable amounts of student debt.

I am ready for a new nationalism. One which loudly and proudly declares that our nation is the best at welcoming refugees and immigrants. You don’t want them? We’ll take them! We love them! We are sogood at bringing new life and lives into our nation and inviting them to join our awesome and diverse communities.

We can be the most welcoming tribe. I’m ready for an Olympics-style competition in refugee resettlement prowess. USA! USA!

I am ready for a nationalism that pushes us to expand the definition of who gets to be in the tribe ever outward. A nationalism like this is a spiritual project, a consciousness-raising project. One that demands that we continually inventory the care we offer our neighbors and critically examine our notions of who we consider to be worthy of that care.

A nationalism based on America’s expanding consciousness would ultimately dissolve into a broadened concept of what it means to participate in the humanity of Earth. This new nationalism would produce Americans who see themselves as a part of an inextricably global project. Instead of the unseemly hoarding that’s going on now, this new nationalism would embrace the opportunity to share our best-in-the-world processes and people with the rest of the world.

Expanding the tribe is a spiritual project, always has been. Jesus asked his followers to exemplify the guy from Samaria who stopped on the dangerous road from Jerusalem to Jericho for a man who was injured. The Samaritan’s notion of who was in his tribe — of who was worthy of his care— was expansive. And, he stopped at great personal risk — something neither the priest nor the Levite would do.

“Go and do likewise,” Jesus said.

Go and do likewise, Americans.

Ben Carter is a consumer rights attorney in Louisville. Follow him on Twitter at @notbencarter.